Christmas Eve

Hello and blessings on your Christmas! Christmas Eve and Christmas Day seem to come so fast, and pass by just as quickly. The excitement seems to bring out an inner child, if only for two days of the year. I think having a child makes it that much more fun too!

Aristana still hasn't fully grasped the concept of Santa yet. She knows what he looks like, and that he brings presents. However, unfortunately, she still doesn't understand the "he knows if you've been bad or good" part. So no bribery quite yet. Maybe next year...

Funny story... On Dec 23rd morning, having been snowed in too much already this winter, we went to the mall. We had a great time in the play area, and shopping at Old Navy. She really was a great shopping buddy! We were having a treat in the food court, which was pretty packed, when Aristana gasped loudly, and followed with "Mama!," like something was wrong. She had everyone's attention around her, when I asked what was wrong. She pointed to the television and said, "Mama! Joe Biden on TV!" She was treated to a bunch of giggles, and people smiling at her. Then, the camera panned back to the African-American news caster, prompting her to follow with, "Mama! Barack Obama on TV!" With red cheeks, I smiled at those looking on at the situation. What a girl. By the way, if you would like to see her politics video, I will try to add it to this blog. If you don't see it, you can see it on my Facebook profile, or look up "Aristana Politics" on youtube.com. I'm working with dial-up, mainly, so I might not get the video on here right away.

Anyway, we started our Christmas eve, at Mike's parents' house for lunch. Shelly and Rob are in town, so It was great to see Shelly's baby bump. I'm so excited for them! Nate, Matty, Abby, Rod and Barb rounded out the family list. We had a great lunch and opened our gifts. I got some gift cards for clothing! Woohoo! I have a great problem that my clothes are not fitting very well anymore, and my clothing choices are really starting to disappear.

Aristana got books, DVDs, clothing(she has the opposite issue. She hit a growth spurt in the last few weeks, and until yesterday, only had four shirts that covered her belly, since it seems her torso is growing taller...not necessarily her legs. For fun of looking back at this blog, I'll list her sizes. Shirts-3T, Pants-2T, Skirts-12months, PJ's-3T, Dresses 2T-3T. She's not so proportionate, I guess. She also got food, dishes, and pots and pans for her kitchen. She also got a Fisher Price Farmyard bowling set, and a few other things.

We continued on to church. Considering Aristana woke up early, and hadn't had a nap by this time, she and I spent the service in the "quiet room." It's great to go to services at Zion. I love that church, and the people there!

Finally, we did a quick version of show and tell, after church, since we whipped through opening gifts so fast, earlier. From there, we drove back to Green Bay, to have dinner at my father, and step-mother's house. We all brought our favorite food to make, so there was quite an array of choices.

We had a great time, with Dad, Nancy, Adam, Steph, Kevin, Cliff, Sarah, Paloma, Atticus, Hattie, and their dog Trixie. I love the laid back atmosphere of that family. It's truly eat, drink and be merry! Unfortunately, Lauren couldn't make it this year, so that was a bummer. Hopefully next year, the two boys that Cliff and Sarah are adopting from Haiti will be there to celebrate with us! We can't wait to see you, Keenan and Miles!

We opened even more gifts, and Aristana was so excited to receive a kid's acoustic guitar. Now she can play hers, while Dad plays his.

Now, it's 11:30 pm, and I should really hit the sack, so we can do this again tomorrow. We start at Mike's aunt and uncle's house, at noon. Next, off to Neenah, to my brother's house. Then, the 26th brings some shopping, and tree hopping in the evening. Finally, on the 27th, we have Shelly's baby shower in the morning, then a wedding reception in the evening.

Sorry again, for being so boring. On that note, enjoy the rest of your year, and I'm sure I'll post again soon!